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  The Glossary

The Scottish Archive Network (SCAN) Glossary defines archaic words and phrases, mostly Scots law terminology, commonly found in documents and records in Scotland's archives. If you think a word or phrase should be added to the glossary, or an existing entry could be defined better, please contact us. Since the SCAN project ended, the Dictionary of the Scots Language has gone online at http://www.dsl.ac.uk/, and this should be consulted for Scots words and phrases (including legal terms).

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C
 
 
cadroun, caudron
cauldron; large cooking pot
 

caption
"letters of caption" are an authority to arrest a debtor, or someone who has not fulfilled a promised obligation

casualties
"feudal casualties" were payments which fell due to a feudal superior when certain events happened, usually to an heir to property held from the superior; the usual casualties were marriage, non-entry, relief and wardship
 
caution, cautioner
security; bail; one who stands surety for another

cessio bonorum
surrender of a debtor's goods in favour of his creditors

chalder
a measure, which varied from place to place and depending on what it was a measure of.   When applied to grain, it was (about) 16 bolls, the boll being (about) 6 imperial bushels
 
chalfe
chaff, used for stuffing mattresses

Chancery
the royal writing office which created brieves, charters and other royal documents
 
chapman, chopman
shopkeeper; 'chapman traviler' was a travelling salesman

charge
a command in the king's name to do something; usually to enter a person as heir; i.e have him accepted as heir to landed property
 
cheinyie
chain
 
chopeine, chopin
measure of liquid, approx. 0.85 litre; container of this capacity

circuit court
an itinerant court which goes round the country trying criminal cases; the one in Scotland is the Court of Justiciary
 
clait, claith
cloth; clothing

clare constat
name of a precept (an order), in which a superior acknowledges that it 'clearly appears' that someone is heir to landed property held of the superior, and which orders the giving of sasine

cocket, cocquet
seal used by a customs house, applied to a certificate (a "letter of cocket") certifying that duty has been paid on goods to be exported
 
cod, coad
pillow, cushion
 
codware
pillowcase
 
cog
wooden container made of staves; pail; bowl

cognition and sasine
the process by which an heir is accepted into property in a burgh

collation
applied to benefices; it was the approval given by a bishop to appoint someone to a church living

collegiate church
basically a church founded by a private person, in free alms
 

commendator
this was originally a churchman who levied the income from a benefice while it was vacant, but later he was a layman who had a grant of a vacant benefice for life

commissary
originally, one of a bishop's officials; but after the Reformation an official of an organisation called the Commissary Court; in both cases he dealt with matters to do with inheritance, particularly the confirmation of testaments

Commissioners of Supply
people appointed in each county to assess the land-tax due from it, keep up the roads and control the raising of militia etc

commonty
a common; a piece of ground used by or belonging to more than one person

compearance
in Scotland, defenders don't "appear" in a legal action; they "compear"

composition
a payment made by an heir succeeding to land, to the superior of the land

confirmation
the process of recognition by a court of law, for example where executors are empowered to secure or dispose of the deceased. The equivalent term in English law is 'probate'.

conjunct fee
any title to lands held jointly, usually by husband and wife; a 'conjunct' right is any right held jointly

conjunctly and severally
an obligation or empowerment to two or more people to do something, either acting singly or in consort
 
cordinar, cordiner
cordwainer; shoemaker

cottar, cotter
the tenant of cottage (a rural dwelling house, usually a small building attached to farm or agricultural estate). A group of such dwellings can be referred to as a cottarton (or cottertown etc) or a fermtoun.

Council and Session
the "books of council and session" is the common name for the Register of Deeds; it can be taken as meaning "books pertaining to the Court of Session"

Court of Justiciary
the High Court of Justiciary is the principal criminal court in Scotland, operating through a number of circuits

Court of Session
the main court in Scotland which tries civil cases

croft
a small agricultural holding, originally a general term (for example the house and large garden belonging to a burgess might be termed 'toft and croft'. After the Crofters Act of 1883 the term became a specific type of land tenure in the counties of Argyll, Caithness, Inverness, Orkney, Ross and Cromarty, Shetland and Sutherland.

cruives
constructed enclosures used in salmon-fishing

curator
a person who is appointed to act for someone else who cannot manage his own affairs, usually someone who administers the estate of a minor
 
curn, curne
literally, a single grain of corn, but usually appearing as 'the third curn' or with another number, indicating a proportion of the crop; small number of quantity, a few
 
curtilage
a courtyard, or some other piece of ground lying near or belonging to an occupied building

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